Foton Motor, the commercial vehicle arm of Chinese automaker BAIC, sold more than 125,000 heavy trucks in the first three quarters of 2026, a 20.4% increase from a year earlier, according to Chinese automotive media outlet Gasgoo. The company's Auman brand accounted for 73,000 of those units, up 13% year-on-year.
Segment highlights
Within the Auman lineup, tractor trucks remained stable. Sales of gas-powered tractors surpassed 20,000 units in the January-September period, up 13%, while diesel tractor sales exceeded 12,000 units. Heavy-duty cargo trucks saw a roughly 10% year-on-year sales increase. The special vehicle segment showed particularly strong momentum, with September sales surging 284% from a year earlier, bringing the cumulative total for the first three quarters to nearly 10,000 units, a 175% jump. The value-oriented Auman Xinghui series surpassed 10,000 units in the period, up over 70%.
New energy push
New energy vehicles (NEVs) have become a key growth driver for Foton. In September, sales of Auman battery-electric heavy trucks rose 52% year-on-year, and cumulative new energy heavy truck sales in the first three quarters grew more than 43%. The company has been optimizing its Auman Galaxy 5M electric drive axle for port and coal/sand hauling conditions, and conducted real-world energy consumption and durability tests in port scenarios. In September, Foton launched and began batch deliveries of the Auman Galaxy electric dump truck, targeting the urban construction and waste removal market.
Foton's heavy truck strategy relies on the dual product lines of Galaxy and Xinghui, plus the Galaxy and Planet platforms for special vehicles. In September, the company delivered the Auman Xinghui full-energy product line and high-horsepower diesel trucks, while the Auman Galaxy 7 completed a rocket transport mission for the Gravity-1 (Yao-3) launch vehicle. In the special vehicle segment, Foton unveiled the Galaxy new platform special vehicles in mid-June, covering sanitation, concrete mixer, and crane truck conversions.
Industry-wide, China's heavy truck market saw cumulative sales of about 926,000 units in the first nine months of 2026, up 13% year-on-year, with new energy heavy trucks achieving a penetration rate of 33.7% in the first half of the year. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Foton Auman plans to focus on ramping up new energy sales, deepening gas truck penetration, breaking through in special vehicles, and scaling up the Xinghui series.
